Down There I Make My Name
by Phina Tera
Summary: Everyone needs a reputation but in new territory Alec doesn't have one yet.


******Title:** Down There I Made My Name  
******Rating:** M  
**Warnings:** implied prostitution, dub-con, drug use, murder  
**Pairing:** implied Alec/OMC  
**Spoilers:** up to and including season 2  
**Disclaimer:** All ___Dark Angel_ characters belong to James Cameron, Charles H. Englee, et al. No profit made in the creation of this.  
**Notes:** Comments and crit welcome.

When Alec starts dealing more than Ambi he keeps it to himself. It's the smart thing to do. He moves into new territory that isn't bumping into British Eddie and his boys. Alec has watched them for long enough that he knows no matter what sort of a beating he gives them they'll never back down. Max might admire their stubborn persistence in the face of such long odds but Alec doesn't because all he can see is futility. It's too much lost time and lost money for him to consider staying in Eddie's territory and keeping him in line all the time. Alec doesn't want to kill Eddie and his boys because it's too much attention especially when everybody knows that he and Eddie have been feuding since Sketchy got worked over last year.

Alec moves his dealing into the subterranean depths of the empty car parks and the warrens of empty office buildings where people are too worried about surviving to pay attention to Eyes Only and mutant scares. It's rough enough down there that even British Eddie won't touch it no matter how lucrative the trade can be if you can get the cash out. Alec isn't bothered by it. He carries a couple knives, keeps a garrot wire tucked into the band of his watch, and makes sure to pay attention. Manticore didn't train him just to make him afraid to walk in the dark.

He ignores the calls from the shadows about what he could use his pretty mouth for, ignores it when the men call him cock sucker. He's free to do that now because Manticore isn't breathing down his neck with their orders about any means necessary and showing their financier a good time. That's another thing that Maxie never had to deal with and Alec is sure that she is never going to let herself figure it out no matter what some of the escaped X5s say to her. He thinks Logan must guess but if he does he keeps it to himself. The survivors that know for sure never say anything because they know what it's like to be picked and told to be nice, be pleasing, follow the orders even if it means begging on bended knee. Alec never forgets but he doesn't let it get to him like some of them do. Joshua says that the past is past and Alec likes him better for it.

The long hair that brushes his shoulders doesn't help lessen the cat calls. Even with the laser the bar code always comes back and the hair helps hide the faint marks of it on his neck. Max asks him once if he's trying to be more of a girl than he already is but he ignores her. Max never did understand necessity very well. Joshua says nothing but he likes to run his fingers through it when they sit on their roof in Terminal City sharing stolen liquor between them.

The first time he gets jumped down there he's just completed a nice deal for twenty hits of H. The gun is pressed against his back and the man is nervous, jittering with excitement as he demands the money. Alec doesn't even think, just reacts like he was trained. Spin, chop, catch and he has the gun. It doesn't feel heavy enough to be loaded. Alec slams his palm into the man's nose, feels warm blood flow onto his skin and then uses the gun to club him to his knees.

"You don't want to fuck with me, you tell your buddies that you hear me?"

Alec punctuates his question with a hard shake to the man's shoulder. He whines and nods. Alec snaps a couple fingers for good measure and leaves the man shaking on the ground as he cradles his injured hand.

The trick to building a reputation isn't to be violent it's to be willing to do what the others won't. It's backing up a threat and not flinching. Thanks to Manticore Alec doesn't think that there is anything that could make him flinch. Sure he might find some of the stuff distasteful, might try to scald the memory out of his mind with a hot shower and a willing body but that will never stop him from doing what needs doing. It's the pimp who solidifies his reputation even though he's left a trail of muggers broken and bleeding behind him.

The pimp catches him, drugs him, and takes him down to a club to be made an example of because nobody deals in his territory especially not pretty boy whores. Alec splits blood and smiles because he's already metabolized the drugs that were supposed to keep him docile while the pimp and his boys work him over for everyone to see. Sector police don't venture down here and Alec sees nothing that can hold him back from homicide. He makes the pimp's boys scream from broken joints. They won't die yet not until they can see their master's lifeless eyes. He takes his time with the man who thought that he could best him, who thought that Alec was as soft as his face implied. He doesn't torture him because it doesn't serve him to get the reputation of a psychopath instead he breaks every bone in the pimp's left hand after he's dislocated his right knee. The club goers have either left or stayed out his way just watching in silence as he frees himself and takes his revenge. Alec wasn't expecting anything else – altruism is not something to be done down here if you want to live. The beat of the music is still pulsing through the club but it can only hide the moans and whimpers. The screams are too loud to be covered. He finally snaps the pimp's neck and takes his gun. He shoots the henchmen in the heads; a single neat bullet hole in their foreheads that turns to a ruptured red mess at the exit point. When he leaves the club people step away from him and nobody makes any cracks about his cock sucking mouth. Alec knows that sort of thing is over now.

Joshua finds him sitting alone on the roof. The stars are smudgy through the pollution haze but he can still find the North Star. He likes the continuity of it, likes that he can always rely on it no matter where he is. Berrisford was the only mission where he didn't follow it out and back to base. He'd taught Rachel constellations but she'd never really gotten why he liked them. He's just looking for Orion when he hears footsteps.

"Catch cold like this."

Alec shrugs but doesn't say anything when Joshua ruffles his wet hair and comes to sit behind him. He leans back into Joshua's heat and listens to the steady thump of his heart.


End file.
